Return Of The Tamers, Part 2
by DarkFox2009
Summary: Myotismon is back with a vengeance and has made it his mission to take over this dimensions Digital and Human worlds but must first destroy the Tamers which proves to be quite a daunting task. Meanwhile, things continue to get even weirder concerning Ryan's miraculous recovery from injury and incredibly fast healing time. And what will he do when the tamers lives are put in danger?
1. Power Play, Part 2

Computer monitors began shattering into pieces as the floor beneath the group started to split down the middle. The control room was being destroyed from the outside by an unknown force sent by Myotismon. As the eastern wall was violently ripped away from the side of the building, allowing rays of sunlight and powerful gusts of wind to flood in, they were greeted with a horrific sight.

"It's Tyrannomon!" Rika exclaimed, holding up her d-arc to get a reading on him just to make sure since his scales were purple and his sheer size was much larger than normal. "Actually, he's a MasterTyrannomon, ultimate level. Special attack: Master Fire!"

"We need to go…everyone out now!" Yamaki's order came just in time as the dinosaur digimon opened his mouth wide to charge the attack. Moments later, just as all of them made it through the swinging doors, what remained of Hypnos main command center was engulfed in flames which exploded into the hall behind them activating the sprinkler system to extinguish the multiple fires.

Renamon looked back and then at Rika. "I have to lead him away from the building before he destroys it entirely. You go and get the others. We'll need everyone to stop him."

"What about Ryan? Where did he go?" Rika asked, sure that her partner was worried about him.

"I don't know. But right now we have _bigger_ things to worry about." Although she wanted to find out where he was the first priority was to deal with the oversized monster before he caused any more destruction or worse. "Ryan can take care of himself. We need to finish this. Are you ready?"

Rika confidently nodded and pulled the blue card out of her holster as Renamon ran towards a nearby window and jumped through it, free falling towards the street below. "Digi Modify! Matrix Digivolution, activate!

The transformation had begun as the vixens data was stripped away from her body and quickly rearranged, changing both size and shape, digivolving her into an ultimate form. "Renamon, digivolve to…Taomon!"

Taomon flew around to the other side of the building. Normally she would have been unable to see due to the bio emergence field but, thanks to her magic, encased herself in a sphere that was emitting enough light energy to pierce through and provide a clear view of her target. The purple dinosaur was about to launch another attack into the already incinerated area of the building. "Talisman of Light!"

With her brush she painted the symbol and sent it flying into MasterTyrannomon who stumbled backwards, falling onto the street below which was void of any human life at the time.

* * *

Back inside, Takato, Henry and Ryo escaped from the lounge leaving the rest of the crew behind and ran into Rika who was already on her way back to get them. "We heard an explosion! What happened?"

"Myotismon sent a MasterTyrannomon after us. It destroyed the control room. Taomon's busy fighting it right now."

"Where's Ryan?" Ryo asked, after noticing that he was nowhere in sight. "Is he with Yamaki?"

Rika simply shook her head "When the lights went out he disappeared. I haven't seen him since. Taomon needs help though. We can start searching for Ryan after we send that Jurassic monstrosity back to extinction." The red reptile tilted his head, seemingly taking offense to the harsh words. "Oh, sorry, about that. Not all dinosaurs are bad."

"That's okay." Guilmon laughed off the comment Rika had made. "I know you didn't mean it."

"Uh, while we're standing here talking Taomon's fighting that thing all by herself. Come on!" The eldest male led the charge, running towards the stairwell and was followed by the rest of them. "Let's do it guys!"

All three of the boys readied their d-arcs as they made it down to the lobby, blue cards in hand. The three digimon broke through the glass window in the lobby and ran up the street toward the still downed monster. In unison they swiped the cards and called out, "Digi Modify! Matrix Digivolution, activate!"

"Guilmon, digivolve to…WarGrowlmon!"

"Terriermon, digivolve to…Rapidmon!"

"Monodramon, digivolve to…Cyberdramon!"

They took to the skies, joining their ally who had the upper-hand. "What kept the three of you?"

"Don't complain. We're here now, aren't we?" Rapidmon's question was entirely rhetorical and sarcastic though expected given his nature. "Don't look now but I think he's getting a second wind!"

Indeed MasterTyrannomon was beginning to regain composure and set his sights on the four ultimate digimon who opposed him. He lunged forward slashing both claws at them which they easily dodged. Cyberdramon growled angrily, beginning to lose control as he always did when in this particular form, but managed to keep it under control for the time being.

"Let's finish this guy…Atomic Blaster!"

"Talisman of Light!"

"Rapid Fire!"

"Desolation Claw!"

The attacks hit the target from four separate directions creating a large plume of smoke in their wake. Rapidmon moved in to confirm whether or not they had destroyed MasterTyrannomon. "I think we got him!" A claw broke through the haze and swatted the android warrior into the side of Hypnos.

"Rapidmon, no!" Henry yelled out, watching as his digimon collided into the steel, glass and concrete above.

"Stay on him! I'll check on Rapidmon!" Taomon exclaimed and flew over to check on him, leaving WarGrowlmon and Cyberdramon to pick up the slack in her absence.

"More for me. Just how I like it!" Enraged by what happened to his friend, and just by the pure adrenaline caused by fighting, he flew straight in for an attack without waiting for an upgrade from his tamer or an assist by WarGrowlmon. "Cyber Nail!"

Another Master Fire blast catches him off guard, singes his body and sends him plummeting into the asphalt. "Cyberdramon!"

"What's going on? It _four_ ultimate's against one. How can he be stronger than they are?" Takato could hardly believe that the battle had gone from being in their favor to losing two digimon to injury.

Henry stood by helplessly as Taomon used her magic to try and heal Rapidmon enough to get him back into the battle. "Maybe Myotismon did something to him. Gave MasterTyrannomon a power boost. We modify our digimon to give them an increase in power… so who's to say that he can't do the same minus the cards. And it's working."

"Then how's about some reinforcements!" Hearing the familiar accent they all turned around to the sight of Beelzemon riding his motorcycle up to the scene. The virus jumps off the vehicle which continues riding off on its own while its rider began flying. "I'll take it from here boys!" He took aim with his arm canon. "Corona Blaster!"

WarGrowlmon decided to assist and unleashed an even bigger Atomic Blaster which combined with the energy from the corona into a helix of power. It seemed to be more than enough to finish the job until MasterTyrannomon swatted it away as if it were nothing, sending the blast directly towards Taomon and Rapidmon who were unaware of the incoming threat.

"Look out!" Rika screamed at the top of her lungs trying desperately to warn her partner in time.

Taomon became aware of the attack too late to do anything about it except try and shield the two of them the best that she could with her Talisman Spell. "Eclipse Shockwave!"

Both digimon were saved when another attack intercepted the first to cancel each other out causing a harmless back draft. _That attack! It couldn't be!_ With Rapidmon mostly recovered, Taomon flew out of the hole and scanned the area for who had saved her life and finally found the cloaked male Renamon standing on the ledge of the roof, Data Sabre clutched firmly in his grasp. "Yin! It is you!"

"Long time no see, my friend. However, let's save the pleasantries until after we've put an end to his _menace_." All of the digimon reconvened near the building, unsure of whom their new ally was yet reserved their queries for another place and time. "If we all work together this will end with our victory. The scar on his chest is the weak spot. One of us needs to distract him while the rest of us seize the opportunity and attack."

Taomon volunteered herself to be the bait by hovering forward. "I'll get his attention. All of you get ready…Talisman Spell!" Encasing herself in the barriers magic she flew in close, zigzagging back and forth to disorient MasterTyrannomon who began swiping his claws at her wildly. "Any time would be nice!"

"You got it toots!" Beelzemon replied, using his cannon to draw a pentagram symbol. "Corona Destroyer!"

WarGrowlmon followed him up by charging his chest guns. "Atomic Blaster!"

Rapidmon flew up to the side of him and formed a triangle with his arms and legs. "Tri-Beam!"

Last but not least, Yin ran his paw along the blade of his sabre which became alight with energy. He held it to the sky and called out, "Eclipse Shockwave!"

Each attack hit is mark in unison causing MasterTyrannomon to roar loudly, echoing through the city. His entire body rapidly began to disintegrate into tiny data particles, which none of the other digimon absorbed, and in seconds he was gone. Erased from existence like a bad memory while restoring safety to Shinjuku at the same time.

All of the tamers digimon reverted back to rookie form and rejoined their partners who were glad to see that none of the injuries sustained were significant. "Do me a favor? Next time let someone else check to see if the giant dinosaur has been destroyed or not."

Terriermon began softly rubbing his noggin, cringing as he did so. "Don't worry, Henry, next time I will. Trust me."

While the group gathered to celebrate, Renamon approached Yin and stopped a few yards away. "It's been a long time. What are you doing here?"

"I was sent here by Fanglongmon to assist you. It's fortunate I arrived when I did." Noting how she was almost destroyed. "I'm afraid I cannot stay long. Before I go there is something you need to know. _All_ of you." Everyone turned their attention to him. "Myotismon will not give up so easily. He will send more of his minions after you. Some will willingly do his bidding…others will not. But no matter what you must be strong and unite to vanquish his evil from the face of this dimension once and for all. This is not the end, my friends…this is only the beginning."

Yin began walking away, his cloak moving in the wind like a superheroes cape, disappearing as fast as he had appeared.

"Who was that, Renamon?" Rika asked, amazed by the fact that there was more than one of her digimon's species and impressed by his battle prowess as well.

It took her a moment to respond, glad to see another old friend was alive and well. And then she remembered that another was still missing in action. "Ryan!" Smoke was still pouring from the hole created by MasterTyrannomon that used to be the control room. "He's still in there! We have to find him!"

"Don't bother!" Yamaki exclaimed, walking out of the partially destroyed lobby with Janyu, Riley and Tally not far behind. "We just combed every inch of the building while you were all busy fighting. There's no sign of him on any floor whatsoever. And we even went to the security room to check the video footage that was taken just before the lights went out...nothing. He's not here."

The worst thoughts about what could have happened to him flooded into the deepest recesses of Renamon's mind while she tried to maintain her calm and collected demeanor. Rika's cell phone rang just as she was about to say something to her digimon. "Hello? Grandma, what's wrong? What!? We're on our way!" She hung up and placed the device back into her pants pocket. "It's Ryan!"

* * *

Rika, Renamon and the rest of the tamers arrived at the Nonaka house speedily thanks in part to Yamaki allowing them access to the Hypnos emergency service vehicle. Seiko was waiting for them at the entrance of to the property. "He's in the back. I tried to talk to him but I don't think he could hear me. It's like he's in some sort of trance."

Making their way through the hallway of the home and into the backyard they found him standing at the edge of the pond, head tilted down and staring into the water with a blank yet peaceful looking expression. The vixen held up her paw and approached, watching as he knelt down and touched the water multiple times the way a child would, having seen something so fantastical for the very first time in his or her life.

"Ryan? Can you hear me? It's Renamon." No response as the teen stood up. "What's wrong?" She walked up next to him, put her paw on his shoulder and turned him around so that he would be facing her. Her eyes widened farther than ever before. The tamers could see this from afar but could not see what was so shocking to the vulpine digimon. "Ryan, snap out of it! Wake up!"

After being shaken back and forth a bit Ryan started blinking rapidly as if he had awakened from a long nights rest. "Renamon…what…what's going on? How'd we get here?"

"What's the last thing that you remember?" The rest of the group, seeing that he had come back to his senses, approached him as well.

"We…we were on the roof, the alarms went off, the three of us ran downstairs to the control room, I spotted that little stool pigeon Aurumon spying on us again, the lights went out and that's it up until now."

Henry looked at the green watch latched onto his wrist to see how much time had elapsed since the MasterTyrannomon attack to that point. "That was an hour ago. Are you saying you have no recollection about anything that occurred during the last sixty minutes?"

"Not a thing. What happened? What'd I miss?" Upon inquiring about everything that unfolded while he was out of it, he felt something clutched in his right hand. It was a glowing white orb. And while Ryan had no idea what it was, the tamers and digimon all knew and could hardly believe their eyes as it morphed into a solid black d-arc with a red ring surrounding the screen. "Is this…a digivice?"


	2. Heading Home

"You know, I'm getting _really _annoyed now." Ryan was hooked up to multiple machines; some were monitoring his vital while others were scanning him for any abnormalities. "I said that you could run _some _tests. Not go the whole nine yards on me. I feel just like a lab rat. Anyone got some cheese?"

Janyu tipped his glasses down, overseeing everything in a booth above. "Just relax, Ryan, only a few more seconds and we're done."

As promised the tests concluded moments later as each machine powered down simultaneously allowing the frustrated teenager to unhook all of the clips and suction devices, put his shirt back on and exit the testing room into an adjacent laboratory where the rest of the monster makers, and Mr. Wong's colleagues, were vigorously studying his brand new d-ark.

Yamaki entered the analysis booth watching through the window as Ryan continued observing the scientists at work. "It's a good thing we never decommissioned this facility. The hardware is a bit _crude_, I know, but it can still get the job done. Speaking of which, do you have the results on Mr. Riley?"

"Yes. All the scans came up negative. Physically and chemically there's nothing wrong with him. In my opinion, he's a perfectly healthy young man."

This revelation meant that they were back to square one trying to figure out the conundrum about all the strange happenings surrounding Ryan including his injury and recovery, why he chose to go with Devimon willingly, his disappearance from Hypnos during the attack and how he made it all the way back to Rika's house without being able to recall anything. "Damn…anything on his digivice?"

"Besides the color varying from the other ones, it appears to be the same device down to every last detail. Though I'll let the others finish their work before drawing any final conclusions of my own."

An aura of dissatisfaction radiated off Yamaki who felt even more confused than he was before. _There's something not right about this kid. I can't quite put my finger on it but I'm going to find out what it is._

* * *

Renamon phase shifted into the room, appearing next to Ryan who was being handed back his digivice by Dolphin. "How did everything go?"

"Good, I guess. Janyu ran a jillion tests on me. Not sure what he's come up with yet. But this thing…" Holding the d-ark out for her to see. "…is the same one that Rika, Ryo and the rest of them have. Nothing out of the ordinary which kind of scares me more than something weird would. I'm still blown away by the fact that I got from that skyscraper all the way back to Rika's mothers house and I don't have a clue how I did."

"I need to speak with you alone." They made their way into a smaller room filled with multiple gadgets and devices that looked like nothing either had ever seen before.

"What's up?" Ryan asked, showing minor signs that he was afraid to hear what she had to say.

She made sure that no one else was in ear shot before engaging in conversation. "Earlier, when I tried to wake you up from the trance you were in I noticed something out of the ordinary in your eyes."

Ryan immediately looked into one of the metal cabinets at his reflection to try and understand what she meant and saw nothing but his regular eyes. "There's nothing wrong with my eyes. Wait." With his right index finger he carefully probed his eyeball. "My contacts are gone. I must've lost them either when we escaped from Myotismon's castle or when I was out and about like a sleepwalker."

"I don't understand." Renamon stated, wondering why he was making a big deal about contact lenses.

"I used to wear glasses, remember?" The vixen nodded, thinking back to that time. "And I told you the other day that I got contact lenses? What I forgot to mention is that contacts are like little glasses that go on my eye and help me see which means I've had perfect 20/20 vision this whole time without them. That's not possible."

"But that's not what I was referring to…"

_"Ryan? Can you hear me? It's Renamon." No response as the teen stood up. "What's wrong?" _

_She walked up next to him, put her paw on his shoulder and turned him around so that he would be facing her. Her eyes widened farther than ever before. Both of his irises were colored icy blue. "Ryan, snap out of it! Wake up!"_

"Blue? My eyes were glowing blue?" Ryan whispered as to not alert anyone in the next room but at the same time perplexed. "That can't be. Both of my eyes are light brown. You don't think this has something to do with the fact that my injuries are healed? Or how I managed to throw huge stone at Devimon like it was nothing? God, Renamon, what is happening to me?"

"I don't know. I wish I could tell you different. Maybe you should consider telling someone… perhaps Henry's father if you don't trust Yamaki."

Ryan ran both of his hands up his face and then leaned onto the counter. "I don't know. After all that's happened the last two days, I just wish I was home in Fox Hollow right now."

One of the devices that he had accidentally been leaning on began to beep every three seconds or so. "Uh-oh…I hope I didn't break this thing." He picked up the device that looked similar to a wristwatch but more high-tech. "I don't think my allowance will cover a piece of super-secret government equipment."

Babel looked to his left and saw that Ryan was handling the device. "No, put that down!" Before having even a slim chance to heed the monster makers warning, the two of them were encased in a white energy sphere that shrunk itself into nothing before disappearing entirely. "Oh, boy, Yamaki and Tao are not going to like this one."

* * *

The sphere reappeared in the middle of Green Meadow Park and fortunately no one was around to witness the event. "Um…I have no idea what just happened but…I think that we're in Fox Hollow. I'm home."

"That device you touched must have teleported us here." She looked around and admired how beautiful the park looked. "So, this is where you live?"

"Yep...I'll give you the tour later. Right now we should probably head back to my place and find a way to contact the others to let them know we're okay before they start wigging out." Ryan replied, beginning to walk down the path while Renamon disappeared as to not attract unwanted attention.

Ryan flipped open his black flip cell phone, dialed Zack's number and got the answering machine. "Bro, it's me. I'm back. Get over to my house as soon as you get this. Later." He hung up and began addressing Renamon with the knowledge that although she could not be seen was still near him. "He's going to go nuts when he meets you. That or he'll jump out of my bedroom window screaming bloody murder."

"He'd be taking it better than you did." Referring to the first time they met when he fainted.

"Hey, I wouldn't have passed out in your arms if I hadn't gotten chased by that stampede!" Defending himself from the embarrassing things he had done in the past. "Couple that with the shock of seeing _your_ face…" He cringed while imagining the scowl that she was giving him at that moment. "…which is very beautiful might I add, is enough to make anyone who is or _was_ high strung freak out."

* * *

After only five minutes of walking they arrived at 32 Helix Street in front of a fully detached white painted house with a decent sized front lawn that was home to a large oak tree. "I never thought I'd be so happy to be home. Oh, crap, I forgot about Storm."

"What storm?" Renamon reappeared looking up at the sky which had zero cloud coverage. "The weather seems perfect today."

"Ha!" Ryan laughed, feeling nostalgic about how un-acclimated she used to be by the question. "Storm is my dog…a Siberian husky. I've had him for four years now. He's really good with people but doesn't get along too well with other…_animals_. If he sees you he may try to bite you. And I hope you wouldn't bite him back." She just looked at him without saying a word which was more than enough for him to get the hint. "Right…I'm shutting up."

The front door creaked open. No one else was home which allowed Renamon to enter without worry. Storm, who was locked in the kitchen via a metal gate, jumped up and began wildly barking at first sight of the digimon. "You weren't kidding."

"Storm, knock it off! She's my friend!" Ryan yelled, trying to get the canine to stop his antics.

Renamon approached the gate and stopped just out of reach of the growling husky. In an instant he began whimpering and sat up obediently. "Unbelievable. I can't get him to stop doing that to other dogs in the neighborhood. You just go up, look at him and it works better than a month of obedience classes. Go figure."

"He's protecting you. That's why he gets angry when other dogs or any animal go near you for that matter."

"You can understand him?" She opened up the gate allowing the husky to approach his master who began to pet him. "All that barking…you understood what it meant? I knew you were capable of some pretty amazing feats but I had no idea you were a digital Dr. Doolittle. How is this possible?"

"Digimon are creatures composed up of data. Data itself has no set language like humans do. It's universal and can communicate with all forms of life."

Ryan placed Storm back in the kitchen, giving him one final pat on the head which he enjoyed. "That's incredible. I've known you for years and still you never cease to amaze me. Come on, let's head upstairs and contact Hypnos _if_ we can but I highly doubt they're going to be listed in the yellow pages."

* * *

Inside his room and at his desk the computer was still on and displaying the message: _Video Conference Call _with two options to accept or deny. Ryan accepted and Yamaki's face appeared on the monitor. "Finally…I've got them! They're alright!"

"Yamaki, how did you get…?" He stopped in mid-sentence and started shaking his head. "Never mind I don't even want to know. How did we get halfway across the world this fast?"

The head of Hypnos moved aside and allowed Janyu to take his place. "I can answer that. The D-Gate that we used to send Renamon into the digital world was the first prototype we developed for inter-dimensional travel between our world and the digital world because of how difficult it was to get my son and his friends back when they went there two years ago. The device that you discovered is based off the same technology only we wanted to try and make every day travel more convenient."

"Well, it works. We got here in like a second." Ryan added, intrigued by the explanation given.

"Thank goodness for that. We hadn't had a chance to test it out since we made the modifications last week. Before that we'd testing it on different fruits."

Both Ryan and Renamon looked equally disgusted. "Why would you be testing it on fruit?"

"Because we weren't sure how the subject or subjects being teleported would end up after. And most of the tests we ran ended up with the fruit being fused together or…" He paused, causing digimon and human to lean in towards the screen with a morbid curiosity. "…as puree on the lab walls. But since you two are just fine it appears the device is a success. Just not ready for mass release for at least another ten years or so to perfect the design."

Ryan's jaw was agape for the entirety of the last few sentences as he carefully placed the device far away from his person. "So you're saying we could've ended up like Seth Brundle or been killed?"

"Seth Brundle?" Janyu asked, confused since he knew no one by that name in Shinjuku.

The teen closed his eyes and shook his head. _Doesn't anyone in this world watch movies besides me? _"Forget it…is the device safe to use again or do I have to come back the hard way? It might not work out so well trying to get _her_ an airline ticket."

"If it got you there in one piece then I don't see why there would be a problem using it to return here."

"Well, if you guys don't mind, I'd like to give Renamon a tour around my hometown for a little while before we teleport back to the lab." Ryan explained, excited that he could show one of his oldest and closest friends his home. "Is that alright?"

Yamaki nudged Janyu aside and began yelling. "No! Absolutely out of the question! Get back here immediately!"

Ryan started to make static noises with his mouth, typing a command into the keyboard. "What's that? You're breaking up. You sure it's okay to stay here for a few hours? Thanks, I appreciate it! And please tell Rika not to worry! Bye!"

"Oh no, do you even think about…" The live feed cut out leaving nothing but static in its place. "…cutting me off…I hate kids. How do you put up with so many?"

Janyu smiled and chuckled. "Don't worry, my friend. When you have your own, you'll know."

* * *

The doorbell rang three times in a row, chiming throughout the house. Ryan hurried downstairs and opened the door where Zack was anxiously waiting and hurried inside as if he was being pursued by someone or something. "Whoa! You look like you just ran a marathon. Did more shadow slayers come after you or a digimon?"

Zack hunched over, out of breath and wheezing rapidly, held his index finger up to catch a second wind. "No. But I wasn't taking any chances after what happened to us a few days ago. I've been running everywhere since that night you left. So, what's the big emergency?"

Renamon appeared, standing directly in back of him. "You might want to look behind you."

"Why?" Zack slowly turned around, saw her and looked back at his buddy. "I see. Excuse me."

The frightened adolescent dashed towards a nearby window, opened it and began climbing out but got stuck when it started to close yet continued to struggle. "Shockingly it looks like you were right about him trying to jump out of a window."

"I was joking about that!" Ryan exclaimed and hurried over to help. "Bro, wait a minute!" He grabs Zack by the feet and pulls him back inside. "Just relax for a minute and let me talk, okay?

"Talk!? There's a digimon in your house and you want to talk!? Are you demented!?"

"Listen! This is Renamon. Remember the stories I told you about the digital world? She's who I was with during that time. I promise you'll be okay and that she won't hurt you. I'm going to let you go now. Don't run." The moment he releases his hold Zack tries to bolt but is grabbed by the collar and pulled backwards. "For once in your life will you not be such a chicken!"

Renamon approached and bowed to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Ryan's told me a lot about you. He says that you've been a very good friend over the years. Any friend of his is a friend of mine as well."

"Did you _really_ say that or is that just a bunch of BS?" Zack asked, unsure if it was the truth.

"Look in her eyes." He pointed out the serious stare on the fox's visage. "Does she look like the type of person who would BS?"

Zack took a moment to observe and then choose his words carefully. "No…but she's _definitely _as frightening and scary like you told me she was."

Upon hearing those words, the vulpine shifted her focus directly onto Ryan with a ferocious intensity in her body language. "What did you say about me?"

"Ha! I…I didn't _exactly_ call you…frightening and creepy…" Stuttering his words as he slowly backed up while she advanced. "…more like…uh…domineering…and overbearing…" His new, slightly less hurtful vocabulary did little to appease Renamon's rising anger. "…oh…look, shadow slayers!"

Although she didn't fall for the trick he still jolted up the stairs to get away, leaving her alone with Zack who looked frozen with fear. "Don't worry. I wasn't really going to do anything to him. He's right. I am domineering and overbearing… but it keeps others in line."

"Renamon, I've got four words to say to you: That…was…totally…awesome."

* * *

Back in the digital world, Myotismon was busy plotting his next attack while observing the tamers who were all leaving the temporary Hypnos headquarters to head home for the evening. "MasterTyrannomon was just a warm up to see what you were all capable of. You're strong when together. But separated, you'll be vulnerable and weak. Which means the _real_ fun is about to begin…"


	3. Too Hot To Handle

Ryan, Renamon and Zack returned to the Riley household at dusk following an extensive tour of Fox Hollow including a pit stop at the town fair. "That was fun. Probably the most we've had in this town in a _long_ time. Still, I cannot believe that you threw up on the Ferris wheel. Probably shouldn't have had those nachos, the foot long and popcorn before you went on."

Zack, still holding a brown paper bag, shot his friend a sarcastic look. "You think? Oh…my stomach. You got any Pepto-Bismol?"

"Yeah, it's in the fridge. Help yourself." Directing him into the kitchen, Ryan rejoined Renamon who found her way into the living room and was looking at the various pictures lined along the walls stopping at one dated the same summer they had met. "That was taken about a week after we defeated Anonym…_Myotismon_. My mom signed me up for summer camp. It was fun for the most part but not nearly as much as my trip to the digital world. Still feels like yesterday though. Kind of wish it was."

"Why?" Renamon asked, able to see the yearning for yesteryear in the teen's eyes. "From what you told me before, your life seems to be going quite well our recent troubles aside. Why would you want to go back?"

There was no easy answer. Only what Ryan felt in his heart. "That adventure impacted my life more than you'll ever know. But the only _real_ reason I would ever like to relive those days are because of the time I got to spend with you. Even though we'd just met you cared enough to stay by my side and watch out for me. More than you had to. You're the one who inspired me to turn my whole life around. I owe you everything."

Renamon lightly shook her head. "No, you don't. You've saved my life more times than I can count. If anyone owes someone it's I who owe you."

"How about we just call it even?" His gesture was silently accepted. And the slate between them was wiped clean. "Come on; let's have something to eat before we head back to Shinjuku. I'm sure Yamaki's fuming right now but he can wait a _little_ longer."

* * *

While night time was just beginning to fall in Fox Hollow morning was enveloping Shinjuku in the light of another new day. Takato and Guilmon quietly snuck down the stairs and to the back door of his parent's bakery, hoping to leave without being caught. "Young man, where do you think you're going?"

Mrs. Matsuki was down the stairs and in the kitchen just as he had his hand on the knob. "I was going to meet Kazu and Kenta at the park."

"Did you forget something?" Takato tried to think about what his mother was talking about but drew a complete blank. "You were supposed to go and pick up the new order of supplies with your father this morning."

Before he had a chance to answer, Mr. Matsuki appeared behind his wife with a smile on his face. "Don't worry about it. You go and have a fun with your friends."

"Thanks, Dad. Come on boy." With that, both of them were gone in a matter of seconds.

Takehiro saw the look on his wife's face and knew that unless he said something there was going to be a speech in store. "I know what you're going to say but considering what's happened in the last few days, Takato deserves some time to himself. No matter what short term responsibilities we give him he'll always be a digimon tamer. Protecting this world and the digital world from destruction will always be a full time job for him and his friends."

Yoshie's expression showed that she was beginning to relent. "He's growing up so fast. I just wish he could enjoy his youth like a normal child and not have to run around being in danger all the time from these digimon. I thought things would stay quiet for good after the D-Reaper was destroyed, and the Locomon incident, but now it's starting all over again."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again: Takato can take care of himself. Besides, he'll always have Guilmon by his side watching out for him. He's forever in good hands."

* * *

Takato and Guilmon raced through the park, already almost ten minutes late meeting Kazu and Kenta who were waiting patiently for him at the place where they used to meet and play the card game, before they became tamers, which they still did to this day. They rounded the corner and were finally in sight of their friends. "What took you so long, Chumley?"

"Sorry, guys." Takato replied, placing his shoebox filled with cards down while all the digimon started talking with one another. "My mom caught us trying to sneak out early but dad covered for me."

"Wish my dad would cover for me with my mom. I'm fourteen and if I'm a minute late getting home she gets in the car and starts searching the neighborhood." Kenta explained, wishing that he had a less smothering mother. "So, anyone else coming or is it just us three?"

"Ryo had to fly back to Kyoto with Cyberdramon to register for his classes since school starts next week so I doubt we'll be seeing him as much. Henry's spending the day with his father at work. Jeri's shopping with Calumon, her mother and brother. And I think Rika's waiting back at her mother's house for Ryan and Renamon to come back from America."

Kazu took of his visor and scratched his noggin. "You know, _just us_ would have been plenty."

* * *

Henry, Terriermon and Janyu were in a desolate and dimly light parking garage making their way towards the elevator that would take them into the temporary Hypnos base when the fur on Terriermon's body suddenly stood on end. The rabbit used his ears to glide off his perch atop his tamers shoulder and into fighting position. "There's something's coming."

"Dad, get into the elevator now!" Mr. Wong had not time to question his son and hurried into the safety of the lift. "Is it more of those shadow slayers?"

"No. It's a digimon!" Terriermon exclaimed, sensing the presence of another digital monster.

The other side of the structure began filling with thick grey smoke that did not move any further than that, remaining ominously away from the duo. A silhouette slowly made its way through the haze and into view. Holding up his digivices scanner the wild ones bio quickly appeared. "Let's see…FlameWizardmon, rookie level. Special attack, Magic Ignition."

"You are correct! FlameWizardmon is my name and fire is my game! So come along quietly or both you and your bunny will be char broiled!"

"That's what you think…Bunny Blast!" The attack whizzed towards its target only to be broken up by the staff FlaWizardmon was clutching in his right hand. "Okay try this one on for size! Terrier Tornado!"

All that was accomplished by his second attempt was to fan the flames so to speak. "You tried your best, and had your turn, now it's mine, so feel the burn, Magical Ignition!" He held out his palm and launched a miniature fireball that exploded into a bigger burst at a snap of his fingers which sent Terriermon flying with intense velocity into the stone wall before falling down to the ground.

"Oh no, Terriermon I'm coming!" Henry hurried over to the half-conscious rookie and cradled him in his arms.

"Henry, look out!" Janyu yelled from behind the still closed elevator doors looking on helplessly.

"Explosion Array!" Another attack exploded around them only, instead of being destroyed by it, they were encased within a cage made entirely out of flames that did not exert heat on the inside but was extremely hot to the touch nonetheless. "I now have one tamer to play my game, the rest shall soon follow and you have that meddlesome human to blame!"

They disappeared in another cloud of smoke similar to how a magician would at the end of his act, leaving a distraught Janyu still in the elevator. He took out his cell phone, hoping to be able to warn the other kids, but had no signal and knew the only means of contacting them left was inside Hypnos.

The elevator car descended rapidly to the bottom floor. Janyu ran out, leaving his bag behind, and went straight for the communications hub. After bringing the ARK satellite online he began tracking the locations of the other tamers and was unable to locate Henry but was even more frightened upon realizing that Jeri, Ai and Mako were all missing as well. "I've got to warn Takato and Rika!"

Takato's cell phone began ringing from where it was lying on the ground before it was incinerated into ashes.

Janyu re-checked the map after failing to get through to him and watched as his, Kazu's and Kenta's readings disappeared from where the GPS had placed them. His last chance was to reach Rika before she was also taken.

* * *

Back at the Nonaka house, Rika was sitting on the wooden railing just relaxing and enjoying the splendor of the day while waiting for Ryan and Renamon when her phone began ringing. "Hello?"

"Rika! Oh, thank goodness I reached you in time! This is Mr. Wong, Henry's father!" She tried to respond but could not get a word in edgewise. "Listen, Henry and Terriermon were captured by a rogue digimon I believe is working for Myotismon! He's got everyone else except for you, Renamon, Ryo, Monodramon and Ryan! You need to…"

The phone was blasted out of her hands by FlameWizardmon who was standing in her doorway, fire still emanating from his finger tip. "Where's your partner? Myotismon wants the complete set, not just one."

"Hey, hothead!" FlameWizardmon spins to his left and is sprayed once with a fire extinguisher by Ryan, keeping both hands on the trigger and hose, before stumbling backwards in pain. He then tries to attack the teen but to no avail as the chemicals covering his body begin to interfere with his powers rendering him unable to create flame or even a spark. "Why don't you just chill out for a bit?"

Again Ryan sprays the extinguisher at the wizard digimon who, once the rest of the liquid was dispersed from its container, received a flying kick from Renamon. FlaWizardmon crashed through the back wall of Rika's bedroom, through a wooden beam and into the pond.

"You may have won this round but your friends are still mine! However, my master has agreed that if _you_…" Pointing one finger menacingly at the teenaged boy. "…are able to defeat me in battle, then I will release them. But should you fail…you'll all be destroyed and Myotismon will have no difficulty taking control of both worlds! You have until tomorrow at dawn to prepare! Though it will do you no good for I shall emerge victorious!"

In another flash of smoke he was gone from whence he came, leaving the trio in both a state of shock and anger. All of which the vampire digimon himself witnessed with the help of Aurumon. "The stage is set. Now let's see if you have what it takes to defeat my warrior and save the lives of your friends, boy."

* * *

Yamaki, who arrived at headquarters shortly after Janyu lost contact with Rika, was more than his fair share of furious. Especially with Ryan who not only continued to play an integral role in everything. "I don't quite understand why Myotismon is so obsessed with you or what, if there is anything, which I'm sure there is, that you're hiding from us but now multiple lives rest solely on your shoulders all because you have to show off every chance you get! First by trying to play hero, going off with Devimon and then by disobeying my order to return here after that accident with the device!"

"What do you want me to say!? It's not my fault that Takato, Henry and the others were captured! I've tried to play ball but you haven't trusted me since I landed in this city! I've hid nothing from you! I told you about what happened three years ago! That's why Myotismon is so obsessed with me! He wants revenge cause I stopped him from doing what he's trying to do now back then! And it's a good thing because the tamers didn't exist at that time! So tell me, where would the Earth have been if it wasn't for Renamon, Yin, Strabimon and me? Survey says: destroyed! Like I tolf you before: don't start spouting out accusations, if you don't have the facts to back them up with!"

Removing his sunglasses, he glared heatedly at Ryan but slowly calmed down, letting out a breath to relieve the pent up stress and frustration inside. "You're right. I've been keeping too close an eye on you that I failed to notice the imminent danger being posed to all of us. I'm the one to blame for what's happened."

"No, you're not." Ryan replied, also appearing and sounding calmer than moments earlier. "This isn't anybody's fault. Myotismon has an affinity for launching sneak attacks. We all just weren't prepared for so many in such a short amount of time. All of these battles, with the slayers and MasterTyrannomon, not to mention my little fiasco, have taken a toll on all of us. What's done is done. Let's just focus on getting our friends back."

"He's right." For the first time, Rika agreed with something that Ryan said having fully put her jealous attitude aside. "But I'm sure that this is a trap. If you think FlaWizardmon is going to fight fair you're wrong. We need to come up with a plan and fast. The clock is ticking."

"Janyu, is your daughter safe?" Yamaki asked, unsure if anyone besides Ryo, who was too far away and too strong a tamer to be captured, avoided capture.

Janyu nodded happily despite losing his son and Terriermon. "I contacted my wife after I lost Rika's call and sent a couple of agents to escort Suzie here. She's asleep in one of the offices. Lopmon's guarding her as we speak."

"Okay, well while you come up with a battle plan, I need to train if I'm going to fight this Mon on my own. I'm already a black belt in karate but I doubt that's going to come in handy against him." He turned to the vixen with a serious yet playful look on his face. "I think I'll need a refresher course in how to battle, digital world style. You ready, coach?"

Renamon smirked, ready to embark on another one of her training sessions with him just as they did years ago. "I just hope you can last longer this time around."


	4. Training Daze II

Beads of sweat poured down Ryan's brow as he tried desperately just to keep up with Renamon who was jumping over multiple obstacles while running across countless rooftops throughout the city. Surprisingly, he was managing to follow closely and match her movements almost exactly the same way she was executing them. Where the added stamina had come from he did not know but it was definitely helping his performance.

After nearly half an hour of non-stop, gut wrenching exercise, they finally came to a stop on the roof of a smaller office building. "So, how…did I do? Did I surpass your expectations?"

"To be honest I didn't _expect_ much when we started." Ryan rolled his eyes, preparing himself for one of her bluntly honest let downs about his performance. "But the fact that you kept going and didn't complain this entire time is _very_ impressive. I apologize."

A double take followed by a slap to the cheek to make sure that he was not dreaming showed just how delighted and shocked he was to hear those words come out of her mouth. "I can't believe it. You just gave me a compliment! You hear that Shinjuku!? Renamon just gave me a _real _compliment! Oh, yeah, baby!"

"Yes, I did. But we're not done yet." Before he could brag further she cut his celebration short in order to continue along. "Next up is a sparring session."

"Wait a minute, time out." Ryan made a "T" with his hands, his tank top sparsely soaked around the chest area. "You want to spar? That hardly seems fair. I'm human and you're a digimon. You have powers. And don't tell me you're not going to use them."

"Of course I'm going to use them. Do you think FlameWizardmon isn't going to use his powers against you?" Renamon asked, although the teen already knew what the answer was. "You need to be able to anticipate everything and anything that he's going to try if you're going to have any chance of saving our friends."

Ryan walked over to the ledge, leaned on it and forward to catch the breeze passing by. He drew in air and released a deep breath which helped revitalize him. Yet he could not shake the stress of how much was riding on his ability to prepare for this fight in such a short amount of time. That alone was causing most of the aching in his joints. Though there was something he found even more troubling and needed to vent. "I didn't get a chance to tell you what Myotismon told me in his castle."

"I knew there was something that's been bothering you." Her senses were never limited to sight and sound. She had the uncanny ability to feel when anyone was upset or worried. "Whatever it is, I'll keep it between us as you asked."

There was no doubt in his mind that she was trustworthy. But what he was about to reveal would surely test the strength of their friendship. "Do you remember that time I told you about the dream I had? The one where the voice…_his voice_…told me about the darkness I was carrying in my heart? And when you explained to me about Yin and Yang?" A quick nod of the head indicated her recollection of the discussion that had taken place so long ago. "He said that it had become stronger and tried to get me to join him. I didn't want to believe him…but I _do_. I can feel it inside me. Festering like an open wound. All the anger I've bottled up throughout the course of my life is starting to rear its ugly head. You saw what I did to Devimon. I'm losing control just like that more and more frequently now. What do I do?"

Things had become far more complicated than Renamon could have ever imagined they would. So many strange occurrences revolving around one human, more than all of the tamers combined had ever seen or experienced. "Why do you feel this way?"

"I don't know…" He kicked his foot lightly against the concrete siding in and walked a few feet to another, more open area of the roof. "…_mostly_ because of how bad I got teased in school as a kid and never standing up for myself, I guess. A couple years of that will make anyone more than a little peeved."

"There must be something more." Trying to delve deeper into issues he was experiencing, a thought popped into her head. "You've never mentioned or spoken about your father."

It appeared that the right nerve had been struck. Ryan's right fist curled up into a ball, clenched tighter than a vice grip, and his lip began to quiver. He tried to speak but got too choked up at first. This was indeed a sour subject that he tried to avoid bring up when possible. "When I was ten my parents got divorced. At first, things weren't so bad. But by the time I turned twelve, he started drifting away. Always busy with work or just making excuses not to spend time with me. I haven't spoken to him in a few months. He sent a card for my fifteenth birthday with some cash but didn't even bother to come see me or even call. That doesn't make me angry though. But it does hurt." Before the vixen could notice he wiped a tear from his eye. "I'd rather not talk about it anymore if you don't mind."

"I understand." Respecting his wishes she strayed back to more pressing matters. "Let's go back to Rika's house. We need a more open space for our sparring session."

Renamon took off running once again which dismayed Ryan, having barely recovered from their last run. "Starting to think I should've just watched a Richard Simmons workout video instead. Wait up!"

* * *

Somewhere in the deep recesses of Myotismon's castle, the tamers were all trapped within an even larger cage of fire than the ones they were captured in. Dripping water could be heard in every empty space of the darkened dungeon. The air was musty. Every moment spent in there felt like an eternity.

While Takato and Henry were confident that their friends would save them, the others were not. "I hope fox face and the others plan on getting us out of here soon because it's kind of cramped in here."

"Maybe we can try to blast our way out of here!" Kazu exclaimed, while Guardramon stood up behind his tamer, ready to use his guardian barrage attack in an attempt to free them until Henry stood in front of him. "Dude, what are you doing? Don't you want to get out of here?"

"I do but we don't have enough room in here for the digimon to attack." Henry pointed out how small and compact the cage itself was. "If they use their attacks there's a chance one or all of us could be hurt…or _worse_. You mean well, Kazu, but for now we have to be patient and wait for our friends to figure out a way to save us."

A dejected Kazu sat back down with a miffed look on his face which Guardramon mimicked.

The wooden door across from them swung open with a minute amount of force. Devimon made his way inside followed closely by Myotismon who, though still in a weakened state, wanted to meet them face to face. "Well, well…the _legendary_ digimon tamers. We meet at last. Too bad some of you couldn't make it."

Kazu and Kenta were both in awe of the ultimate standing before them, separated only by bars of magical fire. Calumon groaned in fright like he normally did when scared or disheartened and sunk deeper into Jeri's arms seeking any form of safety possible.

"If I were in Mega form I'd…" Terriermon began to say but an intimidating, dark glance from the ultimate changed his tune. "…never mind."

"You're not going to get away with this. Our friends will stop you!" Takato proudly exclaimed.

Both virus types seemed equally amused by the tamers bravery, sick and twisted smiles forming on their demonic looking faces. "I'm counting on it, though you shouldn't expect it to end with their victory. FlameWizardmon is going to do battle with the one called _Ryan_ and your lives all hang in the balance."

"Ryan doesn't even have a partner digimon! There's no way he can win!" Kenta, with the belief that they were sure to perish deeply instilled in his mind, yelled.

"Rika and Renamon are there too, Einstein. They'll help him." Impmon added, trying to remain positive for the sake of his two tamers.

"Don't count on it." Devimon's words were few but carried with them a grave meaning. "While the human battles with FlameWizardmon those two will be busy just trying to survive what we have planned _especially _for them."

* * *

Digimon and human stood at opposite ends of the yard while, ready to spar with each other while Rika sat idly by on the sidelines. "Quick question before we start: are you going to explain what you're about to do or just catch me by surprise?" She vanished without saying a word. "Okay, is that a yes or no? I'll even settle for a maybe…possibly?"

"If I were you I'd shut up and keep my eyes open." The vixen reappeared and swiftly shoved him face first into the grass which drew a chuckle from her tamer. "I told you so."

"Hey! You did that on purpose!" Ryan exclaimed, getting back up and brushing himself off.

Renamon rolled her eyes. "It was a shove. If FlameWizardmon was going to use a shoving attack we would have no reason to train. The fact of the matter is he is going to try and incinerate you any chance he gets. If you can't learn to expect the unexpected you'll stand no chance against him."

"You're right." Out of nowhere he lunged forward and shoved her down as well. "Maybe you've heard the saying _practice what you preach_? Come on show me what you've got." His brazen act was done out of respect for the warrior he knew Renamon to be and what she was trying to teach him. "Don't take it easy on me! Put aside how we feel about one another for now and fight me like you'd fight a real enemy! That's the only way I'm going to learn…"

"Fine…" Renamon went for a sweep of his legs but he back flipped to avoid it before getting into a fighting stance. Immediately the vulpine went on the offensive, throwing punches and kicks from left and right that he was able to dodge.

Phase shifting, she disappeared once again. Ryan was at a strategic disadvantage, looking in every direction at least once not knowing when or where she'd reappear. _I usually like it when she does the Houdini act. How do I find her? _With little time to formulate a plan to counterattack a radical idea formed in his mind. _That's it! I just hope it works…_

He knelt down on one knee, closed his eyes and concentrated on every sound in the surrounding area: the water running, birds chirping, cars passing by and even Rika's breathing. Upon hearing the electrical crackling associated with her phase shifting ability Ryan spun around, ducking yet another kick in the process, and tackled her right to the ground. "How did you know where I was?"

"When you use that teleporting ability of yours it draws in electricity and makes a sound that gave me enough of a heads up. I'd recommend not using it anymore against me."

"Duly noted…" Renamon grabbed his collar and threw him half way across the yard. "But you shouldn't give your foe pointers on what does or doesn't work against you. If you have any advantages in battle, don't give them up."

"She's right." Yin added to her explanation, appearing just behind Ryan and helping him back to a vertical base. "Making your opponent aware of their own weaknesses is not exactly a wise choice to make."

"Yin…it's been a long time. I heard you were back in town. What brings you here?"

The two of them shook hands as a mutual sign of respect. "I heard about your friends being taken by FlameWizardmon. I'm sorry I couldn't have been there to stop it. But I'm here now and I want to help you get them back unharmed. It is more than likely that this will not be a fair fight which is why we must have a backup plan should our assumptions come to fruition. However, before we do that…" Yin raised one of his paws up to the tree, never taking his attention off his friends, and fired a weak flame that sent Aurumon flying away with his tail feathers smoking. "…we'll need some privacy."

* * *

**Sorry for Return of the Tamers, Part 1 only being eight chapters everyone. This one is probably going to last another three so that the total between the two parts is fifteen. This part in particular I'm finding more difficult to do because I have so many ideas for future stories all mapped out already but this one was always the most difficult. R.O.T.T. was always meant to bring the tamers back, transition Ryan to the team and add some mystery to the mix (for future stories). I promise things will only get more interesting as the series progresses. Hope everyone is still enjoying! Please review. Any and all opinions are welcome. **


	5. Digimon On The Roof

**Sorry for the delay on this chapter everyone. My old laptop crapped out on me and took what I began writing with it. Not to mention I'm nearing the end of my college career so I've been extra busy lately. Two more chapters after this and then onto the single stories of my series. No spoilers or preview for the next story but here's the title: "The Eyes Have It". See if you can guess the plot for fun. In the meantime, let's continue with Return of the Tamers...**

* * *

The full moon rested in the center of the sky above Shinjuku, cascading its delicate glow onto the vast landscape below. A cool breeze penetrated the warm hair hinting at signs of fall. Ryan sat atop the concrete wall surrounding the property, clutching the d-ark tightly in his hand, feeling too much anxiety to get any sleep. He was pondering a multitude of thoughts, all of which were overshadowed by the upcoming battle that was a mere several hours away.

"Nervous?" Yin approached stealthily from the darkness. "It's alright if you are. Being scared is perfectly normal. I find myself feeling afraid often during battle. And, though I doubt she would admit it, Renamon does as well."

Ryan stood up and placed the device back into his pants pocket. "I'm not half as scared as I am angry. Myotismon has the tamers and the only reason he wanted them captured in the first place was to make me suffer some more. He's got a grudge against me, you, Renamon and Strabimon for stopping his plans three years ago but is singling me out for some reason."

"Your anger…" The teenager stared at the digimon in utter disbelief. "The reason he took over your mind was to feed off the darkness in your heart and soul, which has grown just as much as you have over time. Because of that he sees you as a powerful enemy whom he believes can be swayed to his side." Yin, sensing that his friend was becoming further dismayed, placed a paw on his shoulder for comfort. "However, you also wield the force of light. And it is just as strong its counterpart. But remember this: good or evil, you hold the power to decide what path your destiny takes."

A few moments of silence followed the conclusion of Yin's speech. "It was you, wasn't it? Who sent the email warning me about Myotismon's return?" Ryan received a swift nod in reply before taking his digivice back out, noting the similarities between its color scheme and the fox's. "Yin, are you…my partner?"

"No. _Unfortunately_ I am not, though I'm sure that he will reveal himself to you…_soon_."

"How do you know this? Come to think of it, how do you know like…_everything_? Are you some kind of digital guardian angel?" Ryan asked, obviously frustrated by the air of mystery that had surrounded him since they had first encountered one another.

"I'm far from being anyone's guardian angel, my friend." He holds up his right paw, staring at it blankly and then clenching it into a fist. "I've done many things I am not proud of. When I came into contact with you and Renamon, I was at a point where it seemed that my own demons were too strong to ever put to rest. But witnessing your bravery and her loyalty reminded me that it is never too late for redemption."

Ryan was moved by Yin's story and felt compelled to inquire further about certain aspects of his journey. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened after we all went our separate ways? Did you ever go back home?"

"Yes. I did. It was not easy facing my family and friends again but they forgave me. I always knew that they would, mind you, but I first had to forgive myself. Once I've finished helping you I will return to them once again." Yin turned and began walking back into the shadows from whence he came. "Try and get some sleep if you can. Good night."

_That's easy for him to say. He doesn't have the fate of over a dozen lives hanging over his head. This would be so much easier if my partner would help me instead of being MIA. _The d-ark then began to beep rapidly. Its tracking device displayed the three dimensional compass with the solid red arrow pointing directly to the left. Spinning in that direction he saw a familiar silhouette standing in the center of the street. "What the…?"

The figure darted into a nearby alley way and disappeared from sight. Ryan jumped down from the wall, landing elegantly on the sidewalk before giving chase. Upon entering the space between the two buildings, which was dimly light, cold, dank and partially littered with trash, he looked up and spotted his target standing atop a fire escape gazing directly at him.

_He wants me to follow him. It's time to bust out some of those new moves. _Backing up to gain some momentum he ran across the brick wall, grabbed onto the rusted metallic railing of the fire escape and swung himself gracefully onto the platform. _I did it! Jackie Chan, eat your heart out!_

Wasting little time he continued the pursuit and raced up the metallic stairs which clanged with every footstep, echoing loudly for a several block radius.

Reaching the top he watched his target leap across a thirty foot gap to a neighboring rooftop and waiting again for the teen to catch up. "Are you insane!? I can't jump this!" No response, only the same stillness and stare. "What are you running away for anyway!? If you're my partner, stop playing games and talk to me! _Help_ me!" His plea fell on deaf ears once again. "You know what, fine! If this is some sort of _test_ to prove whether or not I'm worthy of being your tamer I'll do it! But when I fall, I hope you'll at least catch me!"

There were only two choices: try to make the jump or give up and go back to Rika's house. Ryan had accomplished many great feats before this: he'd fought countless evil digimon, saved the digital world, the Earth, recovered from Devimon's attack and escaped Myotismon's castle alive. And yet this _seemingly_ impossible stunt frightened him more than anything. _Knowing my luck, this is what will kill me. So, why am I going through with it again?_

Taking in several deep breaths while walking back to the opposite end of the roof, and exhaling sharply which acted as a countdown, he charged forward as fast as his body could go, reached the ledge and leapt into the air. From that moment on everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. His arms flailed around and around in a circular pattern.

For a brief second, halfway through, it looked as if he would not only survive but make the jump.

Renamon came out of nowhere, grabbing him in mid-air and both crashed down to the rooftop below with neither being any worse for the wear. "No! I could have made it!" Ryan exclaimed, pounding his fist into the ground. "What are you doing here!?"

"Yin asked me to talk to you. He said that you were having trouble sleeping. But you weren't where he said you'd be so I started looking." She stood up, dusting the dirt accumulated on her fur off. "And it's a good thing I found you when I did. You could have been seriously hurt or worse. What were you thinking?"

"My partner digimon was here. I was following him. He was waiting for me on this rooftop to make that jump. And now he's gone because you interfered." A flash of heat swelled up inside his body forcing him to sit with his back against the ledge. "This was a test to prove that I'm a worthy tamer…and I failed…just like I'm going to fail against to save our friends." Abruptly he took his d-ark out and threw it over the side. "There. Let him take that and find a tamer. I won't need it after FlameWizardmon's through with me."

Tears began streaming down his cheeks but he wasn't crying. Renamon hated to see him in such a state though knew he had a good reason for it. The stress of having the weight of the world on your shoulders was an all too familiar feeling for her but it was different for Ryan. So much had been thrown in his lap in such a short time that it was becoming too much to handle. "You're not going to fail. You didn't when we faced off against those three ancient digimon by yourself or Anonymon."

"Oh, come on, get a clue. I got lucky. Aside from that one instance, I had you backing me up all the time." All he could do was wallow in his own feelings of misery and desperation. "That whole spiel by Fanglongmon about how it was my destiny to save both worlds was all talk. The only I did _good_ back then was complain about everything. I tried so hard over these last few years to grow up but deep down I'm still that scared kid, talking a big game but not able to back it up. No wonder my own digimon doesn't want a thing to do with me."

Renamon violently seized the teen by the collar, shoved him against a nearby wall and held him against it. "I've done everything I know how to help you but this! Stop feeling sorry for yourself! For as long as I've known you you've always put yourself down! We all go through a crisis of faith, questioning our own abilities and worth! But you shouldn't because you are one of the bravest and most selfless people I've ever met and I know when you face FlameWizardmon you can defeat him! And if your partner can't see that, he isn't worthy to have you as his tamer! Do you understand!?"

Truly frightened of her for the first time he nodded with a frozen look of shock on his face and was let go accordingly. "Whoa. I've never seen you get that pissed before. For a second there I thought you were going to throw me off the building or something."

"If you start acting like you just were, _again_, I might." Renamon added as an extra incentive.

"Don't worry. Your _unique_ therapy made me realize that I must be doing something right if I haven't been obliterated yet. But I was right about one thing…" Straightening the collar of his jacket back to normal he smiles and takes hold of her paw. "…you have _always_ had my back. So _should_ something happen to me, I want you to know…no, I _need_ you to know that you mean more to me than anything…what I'm trying to say is…"

Just as he was about to express his true feelings for her a glimmer of sunlight caused him to squint as his eyes adjusted to it. Yin appeared and walked in between the two who were looking onto the horizon. "I'm afraid you'll have to hold that thought, Ryan. It's time."

* * *

**Author's Note: Yes, I know Ryan's a bit of a whiner but if you had all these things happening to you wouldn't you feel like your head was going to explode as well? Sure, it'd be kind of cool but at the same time very stressful. And here's an interesting question: do you think Ryan could have made that jump if Renamon didn't "save" him?**


	6. Fire And Ice

The parents, and siblings, of all the captured tamers gathered around the central command monitor, in the Hypnos base, that was directly linked to several live video feeds from Shinjuku Park where Ryan's battle with FlameWizardmon would soon take place. A five block radius around it had been cordoned off so that no innocent bystanders would be harmed and the damage could _possibly_ be kept to a minimum.

"The area is secure. You can tell Ryan we're ready to proceed." Riley informed her boss who had started flicking the top of his zippo lighter open and shut due to the tension. "Perhaps you should say something. It might help them…and you."

"You're right." Closing the lighter for the last time, he walked in front of the group and removed his sunglasses in order to speak with them on a more personal level than just a man doing his job. "I know that this is a particularly difficult time for all of you, so I'll be brief. I'm confident that all of your children will all be returned home to you safe and sound. While I haven't known this _Ryan Riley_ that long, I do know that if it weren't for him they wouldn't have survived the initial assault by Myotismon's shadow slayers several days ago. And if he saved their lives once, he can certainly do it again."

Yamaki placed the shades back on and made his way over to the work station where Henry's father was sitting. "That was nice of you. They all needed a little reassurance right now."

"Go sit with your wife and kids. I'll take it from here." Janyu silently thanked his colleague, got up from the chair and joined his family. _I just gave that kid one chance to prove me wrong. He'd better not waste it. _

* * *

Ryan's heart was beating faster than it ever had before. Adrenaline coursed through every vessel and vein in his body causing him to shake mildly. His breathing became increasing shallow with every footstep taken. The thought of not going through with the battle had crossed his mind but he knew that it was not nor ever an option. "I just want you guys to know that, win or lose, I'm going to give it my best. Just do me a favor. If something _should_ happen to me…tell my family that I love them."

"You'll be able to tell them that yourself. I'm sure of it." Yin took his data sabre out of its sheath and presented it to the teen. "Here…FlaWizardmon has a staff, so it's only fair that you have a weapon as well. I trust you remember how to use it?"

The sunlight gleamed off the blade. A metallic sound could be heard as he waved it through the air to get reacquainted with its grip and weight. He quickly spun to his right, slicing through a semi-thick tree with one slash. "And I trust that answers your question?"

Both digimon become completely still, their fur standing on end. Yin held up his arm to stop the group before taking several steps forward. "We've got company."

"Nothing personal but why do you _always_ speak so ominously? I mean, my stomach is already in knots as it is but do you have to add more pressure by talking like someone right out of a horror movie?" The ground began to shake violently nearly throwing them all off balance. Leaves fell from the surrounding trees by the dozens. "I'm willing to bet that's not an earthquake!"

Rika started to shiver while her breath became visible in the air. "Is it me or did it get cold all of a sudden?"

The temperature had indeed dropped to below normal. And what was once a mild summer day now felt like a frigid winter evening. Snowflakes fell from the sky. A cold, blustery wind picked up chilling both humans to the bone but having little to no effect on the digimon. The vibrations stopped without warning. Several yards away, a number of trees turned into solid blocks of ice and were shattered into millions of ice shards sent flying in their direction.

"Get down!" Yin's warning came not a moment too soon as all four of them hit the ground, avoiding serious injury in the process. "That's not good."

A Hyogamon, snarling fiendishly and clenching a club made out of ice in his oversized hand, was the only obstacle standing between them and saving their friends. "Hyogamon…champion level…special attack: Icy Cudgel. Do you think he's related to that Fugamon we fought two years ago?"

"If he is, he's going to be defeated just the same." Renamon turned to address the boys "You two go and find FlameWizardmon. Rika and I will join you after we take care of this."

Yin motioned for Ryan to come with him. He started to follow but stopped, unsure if this was the last time that he would see her or not. In a an instant there was a deep feeling of regret for being unable to finish explaining he wanted to on the rooftop. Although the circumstances were out of his control, he knew that the time for honesty was now or never. "I was hoping to tell you this when we were alone but if I don't tell you now I may not have a chance to later. Renamon, I…I…I love you."

Both tamer and digimon were equally taken aback by his statement. The vixen wanted to respond to such an emotional sentiment but could not as Ryan, glad to have expressed his true feelings yet filled with embarrassment, ran off to another inevitable encounter with destiny.

"The three of us are _definitely _talking later, so he'd _better _survive." Rika reached into her case and took out a single modification card. "But for now we've got bigger things to worry about. You ready?" Renamon nodded confidently and leapt into the air. "Digi-Modify...digivolution, activate!"

"Renamon, digivolve to…" Her data was quickly rearranged, transforming the once rookie digimon into champion form which leveled the playing field. "…Kyubimon!"

* * *

Ryan and Yin, having circled around to avoid Hyogamon, made their way onto the field where FlaWizardmon was already waiting for them with the tamers and digimon suspended in mid-air, still confined within the cage of fire. "Dear, oh dear your friend is here. If you wish to survive, alone he must thrive."

"Uh…I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam I am. See? I can rhyme like Dr. Seuss just as good as you." Although there was hardly anything amusing about what was about to happen, it was the only thing he could do to take some of the pressure off. "Is everyone okay up there?"

"We're fine! Just get us out of here, four eyes!" Impmon yelled, agitated by his imprisonment.

"Hey! Call me one more name you purple push pop and I'll save everyone _but _you!" He then remembered that both of Impmon's tamers were present and didn't want to scare them into thinking he was really going to do so. "Ai, Mako, I didn't mean that by the way! I was only kidding! I'll have all of you out in a minute! I promise!"

FlaWizardmon immediately chuckled at his assurance. "Defeat me in battle, all by yourself? I think not you little whelp! You're only human and I sense your fear, knowing that your doom is near! Come now child and face the end! For when I'm done with you, I shall finish off your friends!"

All of the tamers, along with their partners, began cheering him on, hoping and praying for his victory despite the disadvantage. Yin felt helpless, unable to do anything but stand by and watch the ensuing battle. For if he interfered in any way, shape or form, FlaWizardmon would certainly barbecue the digidestined and digimon without hesitation. Ryan closed his eyes, drew in a deep breath and very slowly made his way out into the designated battle zone. The walk itself seemed to stretch on for an eternity, inflicting as much cruel torture on the teen as possible until, at last, he stood mere feet away from his enemy.

"Just to be sure that no one will interfere…" Using his powers, the wizard encircled them with a ring of fire, creating walls of flame nearly ten feet high. "…a little heat, that singes and sears!"

* * *

Kyubimon ran in, dodging Hyogamon's Throwing Ice attack while attempting to get in a good position to launch a counter offensive. "Fox Tail Inferno…!"

It looked as if the fire balls would hit their target but were deflected when Hyogamon used his defensive attack, Snow Barrier, creating a shield of ice that absorbed and extinguished them, creating a fog that allowed the ogre to hide in plain sight. "Rika, I can't find him! Keep your eyes open!"

"I'll do you one better." She pulled out another card and ran it through her d-ark. "Digi modify, Kazemon activate!"

"Tempest Twist…!" Using the powers imbued within her by the wind spirit, Kyubimon was able to blow away the haze by spinning faster than a tornado. However, it was too late to prevent the Icy Cudgel sneak attack that hit its target and sent the champion vulpine to the ground in front of her partner, conscious but injured.

* * *

FlameWizardmon conjured up the blue colored fire in his hand, formed it into a burning sphere and sent it straight at Ryan who sliced through it, using Yin's data sabre, with ease. "Impressive. Perhaps this will be more…_entertaining_…than I thought." Again he created an orb made from magical flames. Only now he had separated it into multiple smaller ones. "You managed one, but a dozen wait! A rain of fire shall seal your fate!"

"Don't forget, anything you can do I can do better: your face is ugly, your words are crass, and I'm going to stick this sword straight up your candy…" The golf ball sized meteors whizzed towards him just as he was about to finish the sentence. He barely managed to avoid them all but was grazed across the right shoulder in the process. "Ugh! That does it! You're going down you pyromaniac!"

The data sabre collided with both match staff's, which FlameWizardmon crossed in an "X" pattern to defend himself, creating a shower of sparks in the process. Ryan side kicked the digimon who stumbled backwards but was able to counter a side strike from the sword wielding teenager who tried for a front kick only to have that attempt countered as well.

FlameWizardmon spun the boy around and tried to hit him with the red tipped staff, blocked with the sabre, and then the blue one which Ryan ducked before jumping backwards to regroup.

"Fire Cloud…!" A black smog like cloud erupted forth from the two staff's combined power.

Ryan front flipped over it and connected with a flying kick right to the wizard's already horribly disfigured face, sending him flying backward onto the grass.

FlameWizardmon was quick to his feet, unleashing Magic Ignition, the most devastating attack in his entire arsenal. It caused a distraction long enough for the rookie to use his cheetah like speed to grab the teen by the throat, causing the data sabre to drop from his grasp, and then throwing him so close to the edge of the fire that another inch would have incinerated him entirely.

"Oh, no, he's in trouble!" Jeri yelled, holding onto Calumon tightly. "We've got to get out of here and help him somehow!"

"We can't. This cage's magic is stopping our d-arks from letting us modify or digivolve our digimon." Henry replied, not wanting to make everything seem hopeless while trying to remain realistic. "Wait! That's it! It's made up of a magical flame. And those staffs he carries are the wands."

"Yeah, what's your point dude?" Kazu asked, just as confused as everyone was if not more so.

Takato intervened upon realizing what Henry was thinking and talking about. "What he means is if we can get our hands on just _one_ of those wands, we might be able to use it to get ourselves out of here."

"That's a great plan, guys. One problem…we're in _here_. The wands are down _there_." Kenta was not the least bit optimistic about their plan. "How are we supposed to get one of them?"

Yin, thanks to his ability to hear from long distances, heard the proposed plan. _Leave that to me._

* * *

"Kyubimon, talk to me! Are you alright!?" Rika gently cradled the champions head in her arms.

"I'm fine. But he's too powerful for me to defeat in champion form." Kyubimon's reply hinted to the tamer just what she had in mind in order to finish Hyogamon off once and for all.

Rika smiled, nodded and held her digivice up as Kyubimon de-digivolved back into Renamon. "Ready when you are!" The d-ark began to glow with a blue colored aura before the computer voice spoke the words "Bio-Merge Digivolution". "Bio-Merge, activate…!"

"Renamon, Bio Merge to…" Human and digimon became one in an incredible transformation that ends with the creation of a Mega. "…Sakuyamon!"

* * *

Ryan groaned, holding his chest as he tried to recover from being tossed around like a weathered baseball. FlameWizardmon seized him by the hair, drawing a grunt of pain from the adolescent, and moving closer to the surrounding fire. "I'll give credit where it is due, you fought valiantly but now you're through! All good fun must come to an end, so must you and all your friends!"

"You'll never learn will you?" Ryan asked, laughing during the entire sentence. "Your wrong again, your rhymes still suck, and if I were you…" The data cycle smashed into the rookie digimon's side, launching him through the fire and into the woods. "…I would've ducked!"

"Ryan, can you hear me? There's no time for you to answer me, so I hope that you're listening: you need to procure one of FlameWizardmon's match staffs. They double as magic wands and can be used to free the others. We have but one shot at this. Good luck." Understanding what he had to do Ryan got onto the bike and drove it to the center of the field, retrieving Yin's data sabre along the way, waiting patiently for his enemy to come back for another round.

Indeed he returned and more enraged than before, with all of his appendages set ablaze. "No more rhymes! I'm just going to annihilate you, human!"

Revving the engine, he released the brake and drove forward like a medieval knight on his steed. FlameWizardmon, wielding both weapons, raced forth, scorching the Earth beneath his feet. _Just a little close…a bit more…now! _Purposely skidding the data cycle out, Ryan tripped the virus type up and snatched one of his wands as he went tumbling. "Yin, heads up!"

With all of his might, Ryan threw it through the air towards the cage. Yin intercepted it mid-air and sliced through the bars, which dissipated into mere particles of harmless energy, freeing all of the prisoners. "No!" FlameWizardmon yelled, having lost his hostages and only leverage. "No matter…they may have escaped with their lives…but you won't!"

The flames surrounding them burned stronger and higher, creating the closest approximation of hell that anyone could have possibly imagined.

* * *

From across the park, Sakuyamon could see the blaze reaching into the sky then taking a dome shape. "Oh, no…! We've got to finish this guy off and go help Ryan!" The Shakujou glowed brightly with a yellow aura as did the Mega's body. Hyogamon senselessly tried once more to destroy her using Throwing Ice. "Vile creature of darkness, feel the power of my Twin Blades of Beauty…" One swipe unleashed an energy wave that broke up the incoming attack. "And Truth…!"

In a brilliant display of light, leaving behind pink flower petals made out of pure energy floating through the air, the ice clad ogre was deleted into nothing but bits and pieces of data.

Because they had expended so much power during the battle, Sakuyamon de-digivolved back into Rika and Renamon. Neither took the time to celebrate their victory, instead opting to locate the others as fast as they possibly could.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yin, along with the other digimon, tried relentlessly to pierce the force field that was keeping the wizard and his prey trapped together.

"We've got to get in there!" Henry yelled, thrusting his shoulder into the barrier. "He'll die if we don't!"

FlameWizardmon advanced on the boy, grinning frighteningly with his Scarecrow like mouth. Ryan spun around, trying to run though there was no place to go, but was no match for the speed of his foe who appeared in front of and grabbed the teen by the throat again, lifting him into the air. "It would be so _easy_ to turn you into nothing but ash. But I feel it would be more satisfying to just choke the life from you instead!"

Impmon took Ai and Mako away from the scene so they would not have to witness such an atrocious act being committed at such a young age. Jeri, visibly disturbed by what was happening, turned away, tears streaming down her face. "Hurry, he's killing him! Please!"

Despite his struggle to break the grip around his neck, Ryan felt himself slowly fading. His body started to become limp from the lack of oxygen. _This…is…it. Goodbye…Renamon…_

Just before losing consciousness, the D-Ark in his jacket pocket slipped out and fell to the ground. At that moment, a tower of light exploded from the device which temporarily blinded everyone including FlameWizardmon, forced to release the teen to shield his own eyes. It broke through the top of the dome, destroying it and extinguishing the original fire it had been created from, coating the entire field in steam.

"What…happened?" Takato inquired, coughing due to the degraded air quality. "Can anybody see anything?"

"Takato, I hear something!" Guilmon exclaimed, with his ears perked up all the way. "Listen!"

Once the group of tamers and digimon quieted down they were barely able to make out what sounded like fighting, in particular punches and kicks landing, in the background.

Rika and Renamon emerged from the trail and hurried over; happy to see that their friends were safe but wondering why they were all just standing around.

The opportunity to ask never came as FlameWizardmon came flying out of nowhere, slamming into the ground. "Impossible…where did he…come from?" It was a rhetorical question, and made little to no sense, though it became apparent that someone or _something_ had weakened him as he struggled to stand. "I…must…destroy you…all! My master…commands it!"

"Pyro-Sphere…!"

"Bunny Blast…!"

"Diamond Storm…!"

"Badda-Boom…!"

"Guardian Barrage…!"

"Kahuna Waves…!"

"No…No…NO!" A barrage of attacks put an end to his last feeble, yet defiant, attempt at destroying them.

* * *

Still watching from inside Hypnos, all of the tamers parents cheered at the villains destruction and celebrated the fact that they would be able to see their children again. Riley and Tally joined in while Yamaki sat back into the chair, removed his sunglasses and sighed, relieved that this long ordeal was finally over. "I need a new career."

Suzie jumped up and down, squealing with delight that her brother was safe. "Henry's okay! Terriermon too!

Lopmon, who was being squeezed in her arms groaned, and replied, "Lucky for them."

* * *

With FlameWizardmon out of the way, all attention turned back to Ryan who was still missing in the field of steam. It had been too dangerous to use any attack or modify card to clear it, so Yin and Renamon went in, alone, to look for him. "Ryan! Ryan, where are you!? It's Renamon, if you can hear me _please_ answer!"

"Renamon, look…!" Through the thick haze, a silhouetted figure stood there looking at the two foxes before hastily retreating. "Ryan! Where are you going!? Wait!" They left the field and made their way into the woods, desperately looking around for any sign of the teenager. "Over there!"

Underneath a nearby tree lie Ryan, motionless but unharmed at first glance. "He's still breathing. Ryan? Ryan, wake up. Wake up."

Her attempts to revive him yielded no immediate response. She was on the cusp of getting truly worried until he slowly stirred. "Mm…Renamon? What's going on?" It took another second or two until he was able to recall what had happened. "FlameWizardmon…he tried to…where…?"

"Relax. He's been taken care of." Yin interjected to help keep his friend calm. "Is that why you ran away from us? You thought we were him?"

"What are you talking about? I didn't run anywhere. The last thing I remember is being unable to breathe…" He massaged his neck to loosen up his airway which continued to feel constricted. "Oh, and Renamon carrying me out of there…thank you…"

The vixen made eye contact with the male vulpine before turning her attention back to the dazed and confused boy. "Ryan, what are you talking about? _I_ didn't carry you out of there. Rika and I were busy fighting Hyogamon the entire time you were battling with FlameWizardmon. We only got here afterwards."

"Are you sure? Because I could've sworn…oh, my God…it was _him_. _He_ saved me!"

"What are you talking about? Who saved you?" Yin asked, trying to get to the bottom of things.

"Wait…I didn't tell you guys? This morning, when I told you I was chasing after my partner…I originally thought it was _you_." Referring to Renamon who tilted her head, trying to understand what he meant. "Don't you get it? My digimon is _another_ Renamon!"


	7. A Prelude Of Things To Come

With FlameWizardmon vanquished, and everyone safe once again, the tamers, along with their parents, digimon, and newest ally, were all treated to a glorious feast taking place in the Nonaka's backyard. Several tables of appetizers, entrees and desserts lay before them waiting to be devoured.

In the middle of dinner, Mr. Matsuki stood up, took his fork and tapped it against his glass. "Um, can I have everyone's attention please? I'd like to propose a toast: to an extraordinary and brave young man, who without our children would not be present with us tonight. Ryan Riley."

Everyone began to applaud loudly, some cheers and whistling was thrown into the mix. Ryan's cheeks turned a bright red. He then rose from his chair, prepared to speak, at which the entire party instantly fell silent. "Uh…I'm not particularly good at making speeches or anything like that, so I guess I'll just speak from the heart: I really just want to say thank you. Not just for giving me thanks but also for…making me feel like a part of the team…and your family. And to be honest, before all this happened, I didn't have a lot of friends. So I stand here before you honored, and privileged, to be able to call you _all…_my friends."

"You _are_ part of our team, our family and most importantly…" Rika walked over and hugged him. "…our friend."

Impmon made his way across the table, one hand rubbing the top of his head. "Eh, I'm…_sorry_, for making fun of you so much. You saved Ai and Mako…the two most important humans in the world to me. Thanks…_Ryan_."

The purple imp extended his hand which the teen gladly shook. "You're welcome…_Impmon_. Oh, and I _really _have to thank Yamaki for having Hypnos pick up the bill on that guys motorcycle I wrecked."

"Has anyone even seen creepy dude today? How come he isn't here chowing down with us?" Kazu blurted out, stuffing his face with as much food as possible along with Kenta and Guilmon.

"I was in a very _long_ and _tedious _meeting with my superiors." Yamaki appeared like a ninja in the doorway leading from the dining room to the rear of the house with a manila folder in his hand. "And I have an announcement that's going to affect every one of us for the foreseeable. Effective immediately, the Hypnos division, along with all of its facilities, is officially being terminated."

No one could believe what they were hearing. Hypnos, the secret organization, whose help had been critical in bringing the tamers back from the digital world, destroying the d-reaper and stopping Locomon while under the influence of Parasimon, was no gone.

"Are you kidding? You know Myotismon isn't going to give up on destroying us, so why would Hypnos, at a time when we need it the _most_, be shut down?" Ryan asked with a tone of concern in his voice.

"Because…when Hypnos was first commissioned, it was simply meant to destroy _all_ digimon that attempted to bio emerge into our world. But that is no longer an option, due to juggernauts instability, yuggoths ineffectiveness against certain types of digital monsters and all of it being deemed inhumane. However, I made it clear to the chief and the board that we needed a new sector based solely on the monitoring and policing of all digimon activities." From inside the folder he took out several pieces of paper with a logo imprinted on it. "Therefore, as of this moment, you are all, including you as well Ryan, hereby officially recognized as agents of the new Digital Assessment and Tactical Agency…D.A.T.A for short."

On the handout that was being handed around the table was the same symbol on the blue cards used by the tamers to allow their digimon to digivolve to ultimate. "Data was the best you could come up with?" Henry looked at Terriermon, silently reminding him of his advice about tact. "What? It's not bad. I just don't think it's original. That's all."

"I like it. The picture is nice too." Calumon said in his sweet and gentle voice, making Jeri smile.

"This is awesome! We're secret agents now!" Kenta exclaimed whilst high fiving and dancing along with Kazu.

Takato, the unofficial leader of the group, stood up and said, "I think I speak for everyone when I say we won't let you down, Mr. Yamaki. And Myotismon had better watch out because the tamers are back!"

"Congratulations." Myotismon's voice came out of nowhere, causing a mild panic amongst the party. Suzie, hugging Lopmon tightly in fright, pointed up where a holographic projection of him hovered ominously overhead. "You managed to defeat FlameWizardmon and survive to fight another day. Just as I had planned…"

"Wait. Are you saying you never expected neither MasterTyrannomon nor FlameWizardmon to defeat us? That you sent them here always knowing they would fail?" Henry asked, astounded by the vampires lack of care for his own subordinates.

That familiar, twisted and sinister grin snaked its way onto the virus face. "Of course…I knew from the beginning, after the Shadow Slayers and Devimon failed, that finishing off all of you would be more difficult than I had planned. But, having learned from my past mistakes during my battles with the other digidestined, I decided to test your individual abilities instead to learn your various strengths and weaknesses."

"That's why you let us escape your fortress alive." Renamon added, referring to hers and Ryan's close encounter in the digital world the previous day. "But why not destroy Takato and the others while they were captive?"

"With my limited strength, at the present time, I would not have been able to do so. And I needed them alive because the only one I _truly _wanted to see destroyed was _you_…" Pointing and looking directly at Ryan who angrily glared back. "…for imprisoning me in that infernal orb. However, your survival also has its advantages." Myotismon hintingly referred to their conversation in his chamber. "Before long, I will bring the digital world and your world to their knees. When you're gone I shall plunge both into an eternal darkness from which light will never shine on or from again. And when I have accomplished that…I'll return to my own dimension and finish off the digidestined who sent me here to begin with."

His words left everyone utterly stunned. They all wanted to remain optimistic about defeating him and preventing what he was planning to do. Yet, the only one who could find the right words to respond was Ryan. "No, you won't! You've caused so much death and destruction already, and I'm sure you have some terrible things in store for us, but no matter who you send our way or what you try to do, we'll still defeat you when all is said and done! And this time you won't be coming back for round three! Somehow and some way, I'll see to that one personally!"

"Ha...I look forward to it, digidestined. I look forward to it…"

"Hey! We're not just _digidestined_! We're the Digimon Tamers!" Takato exclaimed, holding up his D-Ark. "And together, we'll finish what Tai, Davis and their friends began!"

Everyone mimicked what he was doing and held up their own digivices to the sky, as a symbol to prove that they would never back down from or surrender to the forces of evil.

Aurumon, nestled in some nearby foliage, was tapped on his head by Impmon who'd snuck up behind him. "All this food around and suddenly I have a craving for some roasted owl! Badda-Boom…!" The bird digimon went flying into the sky, leaving behind another flyer trail of smoke behind.

"Oh! Nice shot, Impmon, I think you got a birdie on that one!" Ryan exclaimed, paying homage to the game of golf. "Come on, everybody; let's not let Myotismon ruin our good time. We had a major victory today. And like I said, should he try to attack us again, which you know he will _eventually_, we'll be ready for him. All of us."

The entire dinner party, humans and digimon, adults and children, cheered after hearing the teens words of encouragement. Their mood became lightened again. Dinner, drink and conversation resumed as if nothing happened. Renamon, who had asked to be excused, motioned for Ryan to follow her to the front yard. He took a sip of soda, placed the cup back down and quietly snuck away.

No one seemed to notice this…except for Rika. _I wonder where they're off too_.

* * *

"I get the feeling you want to talk." Ryan stated, wiping his face with a napkin. "And I've got another feeling it's about what I said to you before I went to fight, right?" Uncomfortable silence followed his inquiry. "Um…I can explain…ha…"

"I'm listening." Renamon replied, arms crossed and awaiting to hear the reason why the teen had said that he loves her.

_Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! What do I do? What do I do? _"Well…I…uh…I thought that I was going to die…which I almost did, by the way, and you see…" It wasn't working. His thoughts were jumbled and his heart strings were crisscrossed. Indeed, he did _love_ the vixen but knew that his original profession was forced by certain circumstances. He wasn't ready to admit the truth. "I've told you before that I care about you but never expressed my feelings about our friendship in that way and I just didn't want to never get that chance. Sorry I made you feel uncomfortable."

At first Renamon questioned his integrity, while struggling with her own emotions about things, but felt that it would be easier just to believe him and keep things the way they'd always been. "It's alright. I don't blame you for what you said." Truthfully she felt flattered but could not say it in words. "I'm just glad that you made it."

"Same here…when hot head had me by the throat I thought I was goner for sure. I just don't get why my partner saved me and then took off. What's his game?" The vixen had no answer for him. It was then that Yin appeared from around the corner. "You know, you're the like the reverse Batman. Instead of disappearing when someone turns around, you show up instead. Everybody's still eating if you want to join us. I'm sure they'd appreciate seeing you seeing as how you're the one who freed them."

"Thank you, anyway, but I only came to say goodbye. It's time for me to return home." Yin's voice sounded more at ease than ever before. "And…I'm afraid that you will not see me again."

Ryan was both shocked and dismayed hearing of his permanent departure. "I don't get you. You come and go so much, help us out and then disappear again. Why don't you stay? Myotismon's still hanging around and he's going to try to destroy us again. And if it wasn't for you Takato, Henry and the others would've died. I'd have been dead a long time ago if you hadn't saved my butt. Renamon too…we need your help."

Yin smiled and put both of his paws on Ryan's shoulders. "As long as all of you stay strong, keep the faith and fight by each other's side…there is not a force in either world strong enough that can defeat you. Here…I want to give you something to remember me by." The black furred fox took his data sabre and presented it to Ryan. "My weapon is now yours. You've earned it."

It was a gift beyond anything he'd ever received before. "But…I can't…how am I even supposed to use it?"

"It's okay. In time, you'll learn how to harness its power. Take care, my friends. It was an honor and a privilege to have known you. Farewell." Yin turned, his cloak flowing in the wind like the cape of a superhero. "Oh and Ryan…just in case you still have any lingering doubts about what kind of person you _really _are, I'll offer you some words I did to Renamon once when discussing my own demons…"Rarely Am I Yin". Think about that whenever you feel like you're losing yourself."

A portal opened in the stone wall. He slowly walked inside of it and faded away. The vixen bowed, out of respect, and quietly said, "Goodbye, Yin. And thank you."

"I'm going to miss that guy. But I can't believe he left me his data sabre! This thing is so cool!" Ryan exclaimed while swinging the sword around as if he were in a duel. "Alright, enough of that. Let's get back to dinner before Guilmon eats it all. I think Mr. Matsuki made peanut butter cookies and I want to try one before..." A loud belch could be heard from the backyard. "...never mind."

Unknown to them, Rika had been eavesdropping the entire time and shook her head as they walked off. _He is such a liar. He loves her, loves her. I'm sure of it. But don't worry; I'll keep your secret until you're ready to admit the truth, Ryan. But if you break her heart, I'll kill you._

* * *

Inside the Nonaka's living room, Henry's father and Yamaki were speaking with one another and trying to keep their conversation to themselves. "Did you go over the video archives?"

"Yes. You can clearly see that there was another digimon there, hidden by the steam. Whether it was a Renamon or not remains a mystery." Janyu replied, holding up some still photographs that were captured from the video.

"And what about the alley way Ryan claims he followed this Renamon into? There was a security camera, right? Did you manage to get anything off it?"

Janyu took out a small handheld device that connected right to the new D.A.T.A. mainframe and accessed the footage. "There was a digimon there as well. I enhanced it as much as I possibly could but it's still too dark to tell exactly which."

"So he _was_ telling the truth about chasing after his partner after all…"

"I'm not so sure, because while the digimon _is_ on here…" Forwarding the clip until the end, it resets to the beginning. "…Ryan _isn't_. And before you ask, I checked the video over a dozen times and I'm _absolutely __sure_ that he's not on here."

Yamaki tipped his shades down so that he could have a clear view, through a nearby window, of the boy in question as he and the rest of the tamers chased after Guilmon who was carrying the backup tray of cookies that were prepared due to his voracious appetite. "Get back here, you dinky dinosaur…! Who said you could eat _our _cookies!?"

"It looks like things are going to get _interesting_ around here, to say the least…_very_ interesting."


	8. What Lies Ahead

**Had to add this little snippet to the story. These short epilogues will be a permanent fixture of my stories from now on. I think they add a little mystique to the endings leading into the next one.**

* * *

Fanglongmon's castle had remained untouched during and following the D-Reaper incident. He had participated in the battle along with the other sovereign and, following its defeat, simply vanished. Never to be seen or heard from again. Zhuqiaomon suspected the humans had done something to him. Baihumon and Ebonwumon believed their master to have perished in the battle. Only one _knew_ different.

_It has begun. The chosen one's true destiny has been set into motion. _Azulongmon, hovering above the empty stone chamber that once housed the supreme sovereign, gazed intently at the many stone glyphs. _He is the only hope that we have. _

The dragon digimon flew off into the sky, returning to his corner of the digital world.

On the particular glyph he had taken interest in was the depiction of a grand battle between the forces of good and evil. The being of light, a smaller white figure, going up against the emissary of darkness, a much larger sized creature with menacing, soulless red eyes, locked in a conflict of epic proportions with the land around them engulfed with chaos and in utter ruin.

* * *

**The tamers have reunited and Ryan has joined the team. But where is his digimon partner? And what does this ancient warning mean? Can the tamers and their newfound ally defeat Myotismon before he succeeds in destroying them and bring about an age of darkness? Find out next time, on Digimon: Digital Monsters!**


End file.
